Does the addition of edible insects affect the formation of acrylamide during bread baking?

Abstract

The effect of insect powder addition on the acrylamide formation in leavened and unleavened wheat bread and on the content of its main precursors in raw material was investigated. The samples under study were prepared form wholemeal wheat flour supplemented with 5, 8, and 12% of field cricket or yellow mealworm powder. The addition of both insects increased the content of reducing sugars and free amino acids, except for asparagine, the limiting factor of acrylamide formation in cereal products, which was lower in the samples with the greatest cricket and mealworm supplementation than in the control wheat flour (242.4 and 177.9 vs 249.6 mg/kg). For unleavened bread, an increase in acrylamide was recorded with the highest share of cricket and mealworm compared to the control (up to 14.03 and 29.52 vs 11.02 μg/kg). Conversely, for leavened bread, the variants most supplemented with cricket and mealworm exhibited the lowest acrylamide content relative to the control (64.84 and 68.78 vs 82.47 μg/kg). It is indicated by the results that the supplementation of bakery products with insects enriches their nutritional value and does not pose a risk of increased acrylamide intake by consumers.